Money Wisdom #393

"...why and how do the fragile letters of our alphabet, forming the sign 'God', inscribing this master word of idealist thought, posit it as the place where all things are evaluated in common."

Jean-Joseph Goux Symbolic Economies (1990) p.11

Money Wisdom #392

" During the Second War, the U.S.O. sent special issues of the principal American magazines to the Armed Forces, with the ads omitted. The men insisted on having the ads back again. Naturally. The ads are by far the best part of any magazine or newspaper. More pains and thought go into the making of an ad than into any prose feature of press or magazine. Ads are news. What is wrong with them is that they are always good news. In order to balance off the effect and to sell good news, it is necessary to have a lot of bad news. "

Marshall McLuhan Understanding Media (1964) p.229

Money Wisdom #391

"The uniformity and repeatability of print permeated the Renaissance with the idea of time and space as continuous measurable quantities. The immediate effect of this idea was to desacralize the world of nature and the world of power alike. The new technique of control of physical processes by segmentation and fragmentation separated God and Nature as much as Man and Nature, or man and man. Shock at this departure from the traditional vision and inclusive awareness was often directed toward the figure of Machiavelli, who had merely spelled out the new quantitative and neutral or scientific ideas of force as applied to the manipulation of kingdoms."

Marshall McLuhan Understanding Media (1964) p. 191-2

Money Wisdom #390

"As a piece of technology, the clock is a machine that produces uniform seconds, minutes, and hours on an assembly-line pattern. Processed in this way, time is separated from the rhythms of human experience. The mechanical clock, in short, helps to create the image of a numerically quantified and mechanically powered universe. It was in the world of the medieval monasteries, with their need for a rule and for synchronized order to guide communal life, that the clock got started on its modern developments. Time measured not by the uniqueness of private experience but by abstract uniform units gradually pervades all sense life, much as does the technology of writing and printing. Not only work but also eating and sleeping, came to accommodate themselves to the clock rather than to organic needs. As the pattern of arbitrary and uniform measurement of time extended itself across society, even clothing began to undergo annual alteration in a way convenient for industry. At that point, of course, mechanical measurement of time as a principle of applied knowledge joined forces with printing and assembly line as means of uniform fragmentation of processes.
     The most integral and involving time sense imaginable is that expressed in the Chinese and Japanese cultures. Until the coming of the missionaries in the seventeenth century, and the introduction of mechanical clocks, the Chinese and Japanese had for thousands of years measured time by gradations of incense. Not only the hours and days, but the seasons and the zodiacal signs were simultaneously indicated by a succession of carefully ordered scents."

Marshall McLuhan Understanding Media (1964) p.158

Note: I think it's possible that McLuhan over-emphasizes the measurement of time by smell. I like the idea, but if you read Silvo Bedini's The Scent of Time - a study of the use of fire and incense for time measurement in Oriental countries (link) which was published in 1963 by the journal of the American Philosophical Society, the year before McLuhan's book was published, telling the time by smell seems to be an effect of the technology of measurement, rather than the media of time-telling itself. Interestingly though, it's reported that up until 1924 some Geisha houses measured the 'entertainment time' provided by the use of a burning incense stick (see p.28). 

Money wisdom #389

" 'Money talks' because money is a metaphor, a transfer, and a bridge. Like words and language money is a storehouse of communally achieved work, skill and experience. Money, however, is also a specialist technology like writing; and as writing intensifies the visual aspect of speech and order, and as the clock visually separates time from space, so money separates work from other social functions. Even today money is a language for translating the work of the farmer into the work of the barber, doctor, engineer, or plumber. As a vast social metaphor, bridge, or translator, money - like writing - speeds up exchanges and tightens the bonds of interdependence in any community. It gives great spatial extension and control to political organizations, just as writing does, or the calendar. It is action at a distance both in space and in time. In a highly literate, fragmented society, 'time is money' and money is the store of other people's time and effort."

Marshall McLuhan Understanding Media (1964) p.147

Money Wisdom #388

"...America seems to be a land of abstractions, where numbers have taken on an existence of their own in phrases like '57 Varieties',  'the 5 and 10', or '7 up' and behind the 8-ball.' It figures. Perhaps this is a kind of echo of an industrial culture that depends heavily on prices, charts and figures. Take 36-24-36. Numbers cannot be more sensuously tactile than when mumbled as the magic formula for the female figure while the haptic hand sweeps the air."

Marshall McLuhan Understanding Media (1964) p.118-119

Money Wisdom #387

"It may very well be that in our conscious inner lives the interplay among our senses is what constitutes the sense of touch. Perhaps touch is not just skin contact with things, but the very life of things in the mind? "

Marshall McLuhan Understanding Media (1964) p. 117

Money Wisdom #386

"Without language, Bergson suggests, human intelligence would have remained totally involved in the objects of its attention. Language does for intelligence what the wheel does for the feet and body. It enables them to move from thing to thing with greater ease and speed and ever less involvement. Language extends and amplifies man but it also divides his faculties. His collective consciousness or intuitive awareness is diminished by this technical extension of consciousness that is speech."

Marshall McLuhan Understanding Media (1964) p. 86

Money Wisdom #385

JC We were going to do it [burn £1 million] live on TV live, but we wanted to make it as pure as possible, that's why we went to the island...
     Laughter and derision at the word 'pure'.
MBA Fucking bollocks.
BD OK, what's a purer way of burning a million quid? Come on... pure.
MBA Taking it to Buckingham Place and burning it...
BD No, that's based on bitterness and hatred, we're talking about purity.
MBA Who wants purity, man?
MBA Why are we here?
MBA But what inspired you?
BD I actually think that everyone in here knows why we burnt that million quid, and the reason why you're here is that you know you can't explain why. In the same way as we can't put into words why we did it, you actually know in yourselves why we did it - and you're hoping that we can put into words for you.
JC I'd go along with that.
BD And I'm afraid we haven't got those words.

Chris Brook K Foundation Burn a Million Quid (1997) p.130-2

Money Burning at the Cube Cinema Bristol of the 23rd Nov's Eve

On Sunday 22nd November 2015, I was at the Cube Cinema event 'KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band Who Burned a Million Pounds'. It consisted of a screening of an art film about the KLF, a talk by John Higgs and some ritualistic money burning. I was there to help with the burning.

The film was excellent (by David AKA hoppo or @mr_hopkinson). The audience all wore white ponchos with the cube logo on them which added a whole extra level of weird to the experience. It was a one off so I'm not sure you'll be able to see it now but the trailer below gives a taste of what you missed. I was lucky enough catch half of John's talk, which was as engaging as ever (and involved a brilliant new tale about 'prison currency'* from John's adventures talking about his KLF book). I had to leave John to it though because I needed to set up a 'burning-space' in the garden.

Thanks to Chiz at the Cube, I was offering a ritualized money burning to those that wanted it. Basically the Cube gave back to the audience part of their admission fee. They then asked that people add their own money to it and consider burning it all with me in the garden (see this image from folkhogskola's Instagram). Many people took up their offer and they met me in groups of five around the alter to make their sacrifice, where I performed a brief ritual.

I haven't written about it on my blog, but I did a money burning recently that had a more profound effect on me than normal. I've mentioned before that I wanted the burnings to be more ritualized, and I managed to achieve this with the help of Angela at a burning in Overhall Grove, Knapwell in Cambridgeshire on 23/08/2015. It was the very next morning that I got an email from Chiz at the Cube cinema telling me about his money burning idea.

To cut a long story short, I set about writing (what turned into) 'The Money Burner's Manual' in the space between the 23/08/15 Overhall Grove burning and the Cube event on Sunday 22/11/15. I managed to get it finished on the Saturday evening 21/11/15. I'd found a printer that was open 24/7 and had made 23 copies of the 105 page document. I kept one for myself. Saved another few for people that I thought must have one. And I then gave most of the rest away randomly at the Cube event. I had two left at the end of the night. But they've now gone. I was going to publish it online. But I've changed my mind. I'm leaving it at the 23 for the moment. I will eventually make something generally available along the lines of a 'Money Burner's Manual' - (perhaps with a few ideas for rituals which this one didn't have) - just not right now.

It was a great privilege to share the money burning experience with the folks at the Cube. I'm pretty sure that people gathering together in small groups to burn money in a sacrificial ritual has never happened before the Cube burnings. I hope that I can be forgiven for the times I didn't get the ritual quite right. I learned an awful lot from the night about how best to perform it and what circumstances are most conducive to it. I hope I soon get another chance to put those lessons into practice. 

Prior to burning I asked people if they'd write down the serial numbers of their notes for me. I lent them my most precious pen to do this (not £ valuable, but given to me by my kids). It felt somehow appropriate; because folks were putting their trust in me with the burning, I should put my trust in them too. Lending out my pen was the way I found to do that. I'm pleased to say it was returned to me safe and sound.

I must apologize to the first three or four groups of burners. I got so wrapped up in what I was trying to do, that I forgot to hand out some of the 23 'Money Burner's Manuals'. So they missed out. I'd meant to hand out one or two to each group. I feel bad about this because the within the first few groups there were some very powerful moments. When everyone joins in with the chanting, and really focuses on the burning money, the feeling of self-consciousness slips away, and the ritual can become a profound experience. As I say, I'm not sure I'm going to publish it online, but if anyone wants a pdf of 'The Money Burner's Manual', drop me an email to jonone100 [at] gmail [dot] com and I'll send you one privately.

I've created a 'Record of all £ Burnings'. If you subtract Bill & Jimmy's £1 million, and my £220, and Mark Sampson's £10, and Angela's £20 - then the Cube burnings amount to £190 according to this. Personally, I think it was a lot more. If you did burn, please have a look to see if I've included your money (where initials were given, I've shown them). Any additions or amendments you think need making, please comment under this post (or email me) and I'll make all necessary adjustments. I know I saw one £20 go up, and that's not there. The serial numbers appear in the order they were written down in the little book. 

And thank you to everyone who burned and help create such an extraordinary and singular event. This is what remained of the money.

I'm happy to help with any other burnings, if I can; anything from a quick chat about how the ritual might work and supporting you in performing your own burnings, to coming and performing them with you in the presence of the Staff. Just email, and I'll see how I can help. 

Oh, and one last little bit of sneaky synchronicity. When preparing the record of burn I noticed that two sequentially numbered notes were burned separately MC71 184637 & MC71 184638. I didn't notice any batches of particularly new-looking fivers among the money, so this struck me as a joyfully random event with a high degree of unlikelihood. And if he's reading this, could THE BLACKSMITH get in touch to share with me a few tips on how he managed to burn his notes in the most extraordinary way I've ever seen. By some magical trickery not known to us mere mortals he made his hand act like a hearth, and his notes burned fiercely without injuring him.

Thanks everyone. It was wonderful.

*(Money geek note: 'Prison currency' and 'Cigarettes as Money' plays a significant role in the economic/academic conceptualization of money the most famous paper being R.A. Radford's 'The Economic Organization of a P.O.W. Camp' published in the journal Economica in 1945)